There is a wonderful picture on my computer
screensaver, taken a few Septembers ago, of my husband and me, surrounded by
our five granddaughters (ranging in age from four months to almost 7 years old
at the time).
Each time that photo catches my eye, I still find
myself in a kind of almost happy disbelief, for the score has been flipped on its
head in only one generation. My husband and I had three sons, hence, I was
outnumbered in our household 4:1.
Back then; 4 testosterone: 1 estrogen.
Now? The men are outnumbered. Today the score
sits at 4 testosterone: 9 estrogen.
I waited many years for the joy of female family
members, never expecting to experience this type of balance. Now that I am a
grandmother, an Amah, I reflect on what the future holds for today's young
women.
Whilst I was waiting (and hoping) for an estrogen
infusion into our family, the world was going through a dramatic change in the
gender ratio balance. This is a significant, virtually hidden and very
worrisome issue. One that is very likely going to have a big impact on our
future world.
While on travel, I picked up the riveting book Unnatural Selection by Mara Hvistendadhl, which had been shortlisted
for the Los
Angeles Times book prize and a finalist for the 2012
Pulitzer
Prize.
What I read about gender imbalance of girls to boys was shocking.
The link to technology and subsequent use of
ultrasound is alarming, for it means that the skewed sex ration is an outgrowth
of economic progress not backward traditions. Restoring the global balance of
males and females could take until 2050.
Implications are profound. Evidence already shows
that girls throughout the world face higher rates of violence, poverty, and
discrimination. The world’s surplus men means an increase of testosterone and therefore
more violence, with huge rises in the number of kidnappings, prostitution, and
international trafficking and child marriages.
By now most of know of Malala, the brave young
woman who at 14 years old was shot by the Taliban for standing up and advocating
for the education of girls. Ironically, during that same week back in 2012, October
11 was declared by the United Nations as the world's first International
Day of the Girl Child. Canada has led the international community in
adopting this day, along with the support of Plan Canada.
The question is why are girls and women valued
less than boys and men?
There is a growing recognition around the world
that support girls and their basic human rights is key for healthy communities.
History shows that the best way to convince more couples to have girls is to
improve the status of women by boosting education and career advancement.
And yet,
sadly, women still need to be distinguished separately in diversity initiatives
along with immigrants, GLBT, and people of color. Each of those segments are
composed of either men OR women and so to be identified separately AND to
naturally fall into any other ism as a
woman is a double whammy.
In spite
of that ‘so called’ advocacy, we still read in the
media that salaries are 15% to 30% less than men,
and women’s representation in Fortune
500 leadership positions has stagnated in recent years. In case you missed it, here is a wonderful infographic that we developed here at Global Learning,
for this year’s International Women’s Day that looks at the gender wage gap here in Canada and the U.S.A.
We have come so far, yet what is already ten years ago, in 2005 Royal Bank of Canada released a report that estimated the lost income potential of women
in Canada due to the wage gap is about $126-billion a year.
So what is going on? It is a cultural and
economic issue… not a gender one.
Culture can be defined simply as ‘the way we do
things here’. Geert
Hofstede, a well known researcher, defines organization
culture as the “collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members from
others".
And culture is not easily described. Try articulating
five or six practices in your organization and then ask “why do we do that?”.
Culture is based on values, the glue to behavior
and decision- making.
The
question is: what’s invisible in our Canadian culture that does not recognize girls
and women as equal, valuable contributors and leaders in the world of work- in
government and in politics?
My invitation to you: take
a stand and start an inquiry with others about what is going on from a cultural
and economic lens.
It is not only about my granddaughters;
it is about your daughters and granddaughters too. It is about creating the
future.
